In certain scenarios, such as law enforcement, cameras record images to assist in surveillance and apprehension of subjects. The cameras can be still-image cameras or video cameras.
At times multiple cameras are used to capture images of a scene. Since the cameras will necessarily be located in different locations, they will have a different perspective on the scene. This can be advantageous, as a subject may be hidden from the field of view of a first camera while within the field of view of a second camera. Law enforcement officers or others can then review these images to get a more accurate and detailed picture of the scene.
Images, whether taken by a still camera or a video camera, include metadata. Metadata is data that describes other data. Metadata is generally in digital readable form, so it can only be read and processed by a digital processor, but not in its native form by a person. Including image elements and metadata from multiple images into a combined image that is to be viewed by a person can make the image excessively large, complex, and hard to process and transmit.
Therefore a need exists for a method that allows multiple images to be stacked while not making the stacked image overly complex when the intended target is a person.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.